http://www.databreaches.net/?p=8342
NV: UMC has patient privacy leak
November 20, 2009 by admin Filed under Breach Incidents, Healthcare Sector, Insider, Paper, Theft, U.S.
Marshall Allen reports:
Private information about accident victims treated at University Medical Center has apparently been leaking for months, the Sun has learned, allegedly so ambulance-chasing attorneys could mine for clients.
Sources say someone at UMC is selling a compilation of the hospital’s daily registration forms for accident patients. This is confidential information — including names, birth dates, Social Security numbers and injuries — that could also be used for identity theft.
[...]
Silver said she was not even sure there was a leak until the Sun reporter informed her Thursday that 21 patient records, dated Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, had been provided to the newspaper by a source as evidence of the leak.
It is not known how many patient records have been printed from hospital computers and distributed to outsiders. But the source told the Sun it’s believed to have been going on for months.
Other information contained in the documents includes each patient’s address, employer, insurance information and details of the accident and injuries.
“Wow,” Silver said upon learning about the actual leak of information.
Read more in the Las Vegas Sun.
[From the article:
Hospital officials knew of rumors of the leaks since the summer, but doubted them until provided evidence Thursday by the Sun.
Not yet a disaster, but has potential should it come to cyber war... Somehow, I doubt this “crash” will get anywhere near the study an aircraft accident would receive.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/us/politics/20air.html
F.A.A. Computer Problem Snarls Flights
By MATTHEW L. WALD Published: November 19, 2009
WASHINGTON — Flights over much of the eastern United States were delayed Thursday by a pre-dawn failure in a fairly new communications system, which led to the shutdown of a computer that accepts flight plans from the airlines and feeds them to air traffic controllers. [Flight plans, like “I will not be flying past the World Trade Center” have some Homeland Security/Military value. Bob]
It was the fourth major systemwide disruption attributed to the communications system, which the Federal Aviation Administration began putting into service earlier in this decade as a way to cut costs and assure reliability. [Do you have any computer equipment older than 2001? The FAA does. Bob]
… The crucial computer that was knocked out, the National Airspace Data Interchange Network, situated in Atlanta and with a backup in Salt Lake City, had also failed in August 2008, with a similar result, but for a different reason. [Apparently, the FAA saw no need to develop a contingency plan in case it ever happened again... Bob]
(Related) I shouldn't pick on the FAA, they're not the only security under-achievers.
Feds Charge 3 With Comcast.net Hijacking
By Kevin Poulsen November 19, 2009 5:45 pm
… a prank that took down the cable giant’s homepage and webmail service for more than five hours, and allegedly cost the company over $128,000.
… As described in the indictment (.pdf), the hackers got control of the domain with two phone calls, and an e-mail sent to the company’s domain registrar, Network Solutions, from a hacked Comcast e-mail account.
There is “confidence in our ability” and there is “bragging” The latter tends to make the bad guys say “Oh yeah? We'll see about that.”
http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/11/an-introduction-to-the-fbis-anti-cybercrime-network.ars
An introduction to the FBI's anti-cyber crime network
By Matthew Lasar Last updated November 19, 2009 10:42 AM
The Federal Bureau of Investigation told Congress this week that when it comes to cyber crime, terrorist groups like Al Qaeda aren't the sharpest pencils in the cup, but they're not out of the game either.
… Then there's Infragard. Coordinated by the FBI, it's is a fellowship of federal, state, local, industry, and academic cybercrook catchers and watchers. Infragard has about 33,000 participants in almost 90 cities around the country, and you can apply to become a member yourself. [Something for our Computer Security graduates? Bob]
Smile for Big Brother!
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10402181-71.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Town to photograph every car that enters and leaves
by Chris Matyszczyk November 19, 2009 7:13 PM PST
… the Tiburon Town Council voted on Wednesday by 4 to 0 to install cameras to photograph every single car that enters or leaves this little Disneyland?
… The Tiburon police chief, Michael Cronin, told the Chronicle: "I think it makes the community safer." [How? Bob]
… The town is fortunate, however, in that it is on a peninsula, from which there are only two roads. So the total cost of putting up six cameras is estimated to be no more than $200,000, which works out at something near $20 per resident.
Even Bigger Brother (It is amazing how many ways the UK can find to attack its citizens.)
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/19/breaking-leaked-uk-g.html
BREAKING: Leaked UK government plan to create "Pirate Finder General" with power to appoint militias, create laws
Secretary of State Peter Mandelson is planning to introduce changes to the Digital Economy Bill now under debate in Parliament. These changes will give the Secretary of State (Mandelson -- or his successor in the next government) the power to make "secondary legislation" (legislation that is passed without debate) to amend the provisions of Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1988).
What that means is that an unelected official would have the power to do anything without Parliamentary oversight or debate, provided it was done in the name of protecting copyright.
Now that's an interesting approach in the “your strategy should match the tools you have to work with” vein.
http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=5555
Lawsuit: Use of rival’s name as keyword invades privacy
November 19, 2009 by Dissent Filed under Court, Featured Headlines, Internet
Dinesh Ramde of Associated Press reports on a lawsuit in Wisconsin that makes an intriguing legal argument.
The law firm of Habush, Habush, & Rottier is suing rival law firm Cannon & Dunphy for buying the words “Habush” and “Rottier” from Google for keywords. Habush argues that by purchasing the keywords, a sponsored link for Cannon & Dunphy was showing up above their own listing when anyone used Google to search for “Habush Rottier.”
Unlike other lawsuits that Ramde describes that allege trademark infringement, however, this lawsuit is based on a privacy claim. Ramde writes:
Habush based its lawsuit on a Wisconsin right-to-privacy statute that prohibits the use of any living person’s name for advertising purposes without the person’s consent.
The statute defines three types of “invasion of privacy,” the second of which says:
The use, for advertising purposes or for purposes of trade, of the name, portrait or picture of any living person, without having first obtained the written consent of the person or, if the person is a minor, of his or her parent or guardian. [Section 995.50]
Ryan Calo, a fellow at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School and oft-time contributor to this site, told the AP that
the statute seemingly was meant to protect people from having their names and images misused to suggest they endorse or represent something. That’s not the case here, he said.
Ryan’s a lot more knowledgeable about the law than I am, but I am wondering how the courts will apply the “for purposes of trade.” If someone uses your name not to trade under your name but to still boost their trade, is that an invasion of privacy under the Wisconsin statute? According to Calo,
“Although (Cannon’s) conduct may run afoul of the literal words of the statute, I don’t think the conduct at issue goes to the core of this particular aspect of privacy,” he said.
You can read more of Ramde’s report in the Chicago Tribune.
Bruce Vielmetti of the Journal Sentinel provides some additional detail on the lawsuit and indicates that the plaintiffs are seeking an injunction and attorney fees, but no damages. Vielmetti also reports that
Dunphy said that he thought a marketing firm had made arrangements with search engines, and that he never requested Habush and Rottier as keywords to bring up his firm.
Habush and Rottier are represented by Jim Clark of the Foley & Lardner law firm.
Not too geeky. Anyone should be able to follow these instructions and see what future portables (at least) will be like.
Want To Try Out Google Chrome OS For Yourself? Here’s How.
by Jason Kincaid on November 19, 2009
… So we’ve put together a step-by-step guide to doing this, for free, in around 15 minutes (depending on how long it takes to download the OS itself). No, this won’t get your computer booting Chrome OS natively (and frankly, you probably wouldn’t want to yet anyway). But it will get it up and running in a virtual machine using the free software VirtualBox, which is available for Macs, PCs, and Linux.
(Related)
Video: Chrome OS For Dummies
by Erick Schonfeld on November 19, 2009
(Related)
What ChromeOS Means For Netbooks And Why Microsoft Needs To Be Scared
by John Biggs on November 19, 2009
We are doomed! Al Gore just invented the Smart Grid! I wasn't aware of this last night when my Disaster Recovery class was discussing the potential for Smart Grid Disasters – unfortunately, much the same as any other part of the infrastructure.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-10402229-248.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Al Gore: Our next power grid will be like the Net
by Josh Lowensohn November 19, 2009 7:11 PM PST
SAN MATEO, Calif.--Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore hopes that America's next-generation power grid will be a lot like the Internet. Or at least that's the plan.
… There are a few obstacles on the way there, though, the main one being a mix of outdated legislation and hardware that makes up America's current electricity grid. For example, the average estimated age of transformers currently in use 42 years, longer than their projected run of service.
… "There are many business leaders in that sector, and I want to compliment some of those electric utilities, some of them here, who have become a part of the movement for change."
One of those is Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), which recently began rolling out smart digital electricity meters of its own. However, that move has already been put into question by customers whose bills have skyrocketed since the changeover. [Perhaps Al gets a royalty? Bob] Some of those in Bakersfield, Calif., where PG&E began its pilot deployment, have filed a class action lawsuit against the utility.
[The link to the PG&E lawsuit article leads to the WSJ, where you are asked to subscribe to read the article. You could search the web for the article, which you can read free at: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091119-718348.html Bob]
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